dvd

We don’t need another atheist telling us which Christians to hate & which ones are tolerable. We don’t need more Darwinian myth, the superstition & hocus pocus of pseudo science known as evolution. Just saying….
Oh, and we don’t need more of the GREEN Religion, along with their false prophets of climate change doom & gloom dictating to us how to live our lives.

thebear

@dvd, evolution is a pretty strong theory. It’s as much “hocus pocus” as the theory of gravity. Also, climate change? News flash, buddy, it’s a real thing. It’s happening, and it doesn’t care whether you believe in it or not. If you want a false prophet, look no further than your boy Jesus. If you’re gonna get on a soapbox, you’d better have a valid point. But thanks for playing!

Family Gal

Ron Handlon

Actually Gravity is both a scientific theory and a scientific law – a nice explanation of this issue can be found here: http://thehappyscientist.com/science-experiment/gravity-theory-or-law.

In the same senses of these two traits, Evolution is both scientific theory and scientific law.

BTW: atheists don’t tell anyone who to hate or not to hate – we have no dogma to force on other people. We merely want to have the right to ask other folks, who want us to act in accord with their doctrines, to give rational justifications for us to do so. And we want the right to accept or reject dogmas in light or our own reasoning, without fear of here and now retribution. (We don’t fear after-death retribution because we have no reason to believe such retribution to exist).
We also want these rights for our children…
Well, we wanted them for centuries but the church folk treated us very badly, so we’ve decided to take them and act on them…

DrDrx

Not a fact. The closest science comes to a fact is a law, and just below that, a theory. The retiring editor of the journal Nature once said when asked how much of the science published during his tenure was wrong responded “all of it”. The essential genius of the scientific method is that nothing is fixed. It is all open to investigation. That often makes non-scientists uncomfortable (some scientist too), but it is the only sure way of continuing to get the best possible current answers.

dermotontol

Doc Anthony

So, welcome to the TV broadcasting world, American Atheists. It’s your airwaves as much as anybody else’s.

Oh, by the way, the TV medium is extremely expensive, requiring a HUGE and never-ending donation-commitment from your base. You atheists have had a lot of fun over the years, mocking us Christians for donating our monies to Christian Television.

But I bet you won’t be doing much mocking anymore, when you have to rely on your fellow (ahem) ATHEISTS to pay those non-stop Satellite Transponder Bills!! Rots-‘o’-Ruck, baby!!

Greg

Max, you know with any group of people is going to be some wackos will take advantage of weak minded individuals, that includes your group of atheists also I do think your last couple of sentences we
re quite comical

“All we have is the truth:

“There is no limit to the problems we can solve if we drop religion
and work together with reason and rationality”

That’s a heck of a bummer.”

Now this is the real truth!

If this is all there is; can you give me one reason to try and solve problems and work together with reason and rationality? Why shouldn’t I just take what I want and all that I want from you or anybody else. If you don’t like it, tough. Rationally I would reason that we only have this time to enjoy why spare your life or limb for my happiness?

Can you give me an argument against that kind of attitude? Didn’t think so.

So, just be thankful that we were all born innately with the light of Christ, it’s called our conscience but obviously that gift alone doesn’t mean we recognize and acknowledge the source at this point in our existence, only that we have a desire to be socially involved.

For Larry below it will be interesting to see who advertises with your channel. I will not shop or do business with them because they promote an attitude of logic as stated above which you just can’t argue against.

Society is very fortunate that few adopt the atheistic philosophy stated above and deny the light of Christ, or their conscience, or buddy this would be a totally different world, and one you would not want to live in.

Our prisons are filled with people with your atheistic philosophy. Many are hardened having no conscience at all. When they adopt your philosophy in their lives, our society suffers for it. Solving problems by working together with reason and rationality, really? That’s why they have locks on the cells.

Greg

those of you who are looking for a stumbling block, please excuse the broken sentence structure. I am using Nuance Dragon to dictate the comment above. I made a few corrections but didn’t look at the first paragraph of the comment.

Larry

Ah but religious belief seems to be the largest magnet for wackos willing to take advantage of weak minded individuals.

I and everyone else have a conscience. But I have no inherent need to attribute it to Christ or any other divine being. Its called not being psychotic. Only someone who has no concept of dealing with fellow humans has to be told why acting in a malicious and harmful manner is a bad thing. Yet that seems to be the assumption many Christians make when they attribute their morality to their religious belief. Its as if they never met a fellow human being and assume everyone is crazy.

As for advertisers,

“I will not shop or do business with them because they promote an attitude of logic”

I am not sure that sentence came out as you wanted it to. Are you saying you prefer superstition instead? That You love to throw money away on silly nonsense?
—
All you are doing is proclaiming how little you respect beliefs besides your own. Its nothing to be proud of.

“Our prisons are filled with people with your atheistic philosophy.”

You are a liar as well. Prisons are filled to the brim with people who are full of old time religion. The number of atheists in prisons in infinitesimal. The problem with “Christian morality” is that any act, no matter how harmful or criminal is justified as long as you claim to be doing it in the name of Jesus. Plus you have instant absolution from bearing the responsibility of one’s actions by seeking divine forgiveness. Perfect recipe for criminal behavior. Justification + lack of accountability.

“Solving problems by working together with reason and rationality, really?”

It certainly has made the world a better place than saying “THE HAND OF GOD COMMANDS YOU TO DO ….!!!!!”

Laura

Larry

@Laura. The fact that you ask how conscience evolved is fairly telling. The question assumes it is ingrained as opposed to learned. Which is my point.

It is a natural part of human existence in groups beyond a single family unit. It is considered part of normal psychological development to have one. Psychotics and sociopaths are people who are considered mentally abnormal, are those who lack a sense of conscience which is natural to everyone else.

Such things have nothing to do with religion. Religion merely codifies ideas which are not so easy to conceptualize and does so for purposes of social/tribal order.

There is nothing more relativistic and amoral than “religious authority”. Any act is excused no matter how malicious or harmful if it is done in the Lord’s name. Plenty of acts are considered “sins” which have to do purely with social order, control and cohesion. It is an arbitrary and capricious authority. Plus religious morality is a form of outsourcing. Avoid making personal moral considerations in exchange for an outside authority doing it for you. The very opposite of moral thinking.

The Great God Pan

” Why shouldn’t I just take what I want and all that I want from you or anybody else.”

Actually, that is precisely what Christianity encourages by teaching that sin is the natural state of man and that Jesus forgives all sin. You can rob, cheat, rape and murder all you want so long as you believe in Jesus and repent to him. Rinse, wash, repeat.

Catholic churches even have little booths sit up where you can go and confess any misdeed, no matter how vile, to a priest. And instead of calling the police, the priest will just tell you to repeat some magical phrases and you will be A-OK! Doesn’t that disturb you, Greg?

Did you know that Christians in California recently convinced the state to parole a member of the Manson Family on the grounds that he is Christian now? That’s it, Greg! That’s all there is to it: “He believes in Christ and Christ forgives him, so now you have to let him out of prison no matter what he did!” I find that disturbing, Greg. Don’t you find that disturbing?

On the other hand, Greg, atheism implicitly tells us that there is no supernatural forgiveness from an entity whose existence we can’t even all agree on. It implicitly teaches us that we are accountable to ONE ANOTHER, not to “God.” Isn’t that the more practical approach, Greg? Doesn’t it make more sense than “Do what you want and God will forgive you?” How can the latter approach lead to anything but anarchy, Greg?

Laurence Charles Ringo

Your comments actually would make sense, “great god pan”, if your knowledge of Christianity was accurate, but I’m sorry to tell you that that was the worst caricature of our faith in a long time! I’m actually saddened your understanding of true Christianity is so distorted, but that’s becoming common in our culture nowadays. At any rate”pan”, anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of true Christianity can explain the real to you; it would take too long here.Just go to any Christian bookstore, and I’m sure Pthey’ll help you out, IF you TRULY want to know-PEACE IN CHRIST! !

Jesse from KC

I don’t know. I work with others to better my community and try to stop pollution, etc, for the betterment of the species, the planet and (most personally and probably most honestly) my children. I know I’m going to die someday. Maybe this is it, maybe it isn’t, but it’s all I know for sure I have. And I want my legacy to be that of someone who attempted to better the world for future generations. But again, my most pressing manner is that I have two young boys who I don’t want to grow up in a world that is polluted beyond recognition and dying. That’s my agenda, some have others, but it’s the reason I want to work with others to solve problems.

I actually feel sorry for those who feel they need a God or some other supernatural reason to work with others to solve problems. My children are enough for me.

Fran

I can appreciate how you feel and it’s a wonderful thing that you have so much concern for improving the earth, for your children and for their future on earth. But the fact remains that if we left the future of our lives and the earth in man’s hands, I shudder to think what the results would be. I am 59 years young, and I remember the world being a much nicer place as a kid or a young adult!! Not so much for the last 20 years!! However, I am now very confident for the future as well as yours and your kids after studying the Bible. It’s unfortunate that many religions paint God as someone who doesn’t care about us, or that he torments the wicked ones in burning hellfire forever when these teachings are not true. Those kinds of teachings probably draw many away from God. God’s attributes are love, wisdom, justice and power. Because of his love for mankind, he has made a way out of our imperfect state and sin so that we can live forever on a paradise earth in the near future without wickedness, pollution, any sickness, disease, old age, death, wars, poverty, etc. (Revelation 21:1-4; Isaiah 11:1-9; Psalm 37:10,11). That is the kind of world you and your sons can look forward to, but it will only come about from God’s hands, since he has the love and power to do so. The Bible prophecied about the signs showing when we would be living in the last days of an era (not the end of mankind and the earth), and these signs are very evident in our days (2 Timothy 3:1-5; Matthew 24:3-14). It’s a shame that false religion has misrepresented God, his personality and his purpose for man on earth through the centuries, but even it will exact judgment from God for its actions (Revelation 18:1-8). I leave you with this encouraging thought for your sons: “And the wolf will actually reside for awhile with the male lamb, and with the kid the leopard itself will lie down, and the calf and the maned young lion and the well-fed animal all together; and a mere little boy will be leader over them. And the cow and the bear themselves will feed; together their young ones will lie down. And even the lion will eat straw just like the bull. And the sucking child will certainly play upon the hole of a cobra; and upon the light aperture of a poisonous snake will a weaned child actually put his own hand.” (Isaiah 11:6-8). Even the animal kingdom will be at peace with one another! I can’t wait to pet a tiger!! 😀

JT

Oh my goodness, I guess you haven’t read the latest study which breaks out prison populations by religious belief. Atheists make up a tiny fraction of inmates. The vast majority? Why Christians of course. Really. Look it up. Where do you people get your information? Oh yeah. Church.

Joe R

@Greg
Can you give me an argument against that kind of attitude? Didn’t think so.

Ah, yes we can. Why wouldn’t we just take and steal and pillage and rob everyone? Because it’s wrong, that’s why. We don’t need some mythical being to tell us so. Plus this is the only life we have, so we don’t want [expletive deleted] like you running around with no understanding of why you don’t do those things. So we will throw your [expletive deleted] in jail, so the rest of humans who “get it” live in peace. Oh and guess what, you [expletive deleted] who are believers still rob, and steal, and kill, so whats the difference? It never ceases to astound me when christians like you can’t seem to grasp why doing all that would STILL be wrong.

Randy

Your characterization of Christianity is at the same time wholly false and sadly true. Christians who follow Christ do not do the things you say. TV “evangelist” do those things, deceiving the gullible and offending the sane, for personal gain and do not represent true Christianity. I’m sorry your view of Christianity has been marred by hucksters and profiteers.

Joe R

Yes they do. Are you are you not all sinners? So just knowing that, you all do bad things eventually, some worse than others. But to sit there and say that true christians don’t sin or break the law is ridiculous. It’s a cop out answer that christians give when one of their flock do bad things. “They weren’t “real” christians” Blah blah blah…

lulu

@Joe I did not see anywhere where Randy said we did not sin. I am a believer also. A true Christian is one who knows he is not perfect. Yes there are some who try to take advantage of others. But it is the same with people of all beliefs and nonbelievers. I know most of these stations need money because there are no commercials to sponsor them. The ones I have seen offer a book or DVD. Of course I remembered some years ago one televangelist said that God told him that he needed to raise 1 mil dollars or he would die. Okay that was deceptive in my opinion. But not all are like that.

Larry

How do you think most television channels stay afloat these days? Unless it is a foreign language channel, porn or premium movie channel, virtually all television programming is supported by commercials. Advertisers are getting a lot less gunshy about the programs they will air on. Even channels which show uncut R-rated films (ie IFC and Sundance Channel)

Those Christian Channels only raise money by phone because the given televangelist needs an upgrade on their Gulfstream or to buy new Rolexes.

Doc Anthony

Commercials? Seriously? You guys are gonna lay down the standard boring 5-minute “commercial blocks” and expect us viewers to sit there and watch them?

When I was a kid, people didn’t have remotes. Didn’t have VCR’s, DVR’s, digital. Weren’t able to change channels without getting up. But now we ALL have remotes, we ALL have 100 to 500 cable offerings to choose from every second, plus recording and fast-forwarding capability. We do NOT have to suffer thru the sales pitches anymore.

On top of that, your Atheist TV channel will be competing with already-established Atheist-Snakeoil channels like MSNBC, History Channel, and MTV.

So money gonna be tight when it comes to paying those big TV broadcasting bills, Larry. You godless geeks had better hire some off-duty CBN and TBN wizards to teach you how to do some old-fashioned “Share-A-Thons”!! Do it PRONTO!!

Larry

Maybe not you, but people accept commercials intruding all over the place. You can’t even play a youtube video without half a dozen commercials anymore.

Sure people skip them thanks to DVRs and whatnot but it doesn’t stop advertisers from promoting their wares on the airwaves. Commercials still exist and still make up the backbone of TV programming funding.
—
The History Channel is Atheist???!?!?!!?
Are you kidding me? They have how many boring non World War II shows about the Bible these days? Aren’t 2 of their regular producers making Jesus Bio films these days?

CBN is not a channel anymore. They are a production house. They sold the channel to Disney. The same company who produce a network prime time show featuring a gay couple getting married.

TBN is moribund and had to merge with a Canadian broadcaster to stay afloat. Evidently those pledge drives didn’t keep it afloat. Driving out the secular CW programming killed it.

MTV is godless and an abomination but hardly atheist. Their only POV seems to be rather neutral to religion unless money can be made from it.

MSNBC is hardly atheist, they just don’t have sectarian liars such as Todd Starnes working for them, like FoxNews.

Larry

Your statement about the History Channel was ridiculous. Roma Downey and Mark Burnett didn’t ring a bell? All those “Mysteries of the Bible” shows didn’t come to mind I guess. They were always just one step away from “The Mystery of the Jesus Coprolites”

Only their subscription Military History channel has anything worth watching anymore.

Joe R

The Great God Pan

Doc, I hate to rain on your parade but the article makes it clear that this is not an actual broadcast or cable TV channel. It is just a Roku channel that will be running video blogs and footage from atheist conventions. It’s basically a glorified YouTube account that will cost very little to produce or broadcast and is certainly not “a very expensive medium.” I’m sorry that you won’t be able to gloat over an atheist group going bankrupt.

And I really, really hate to break this part to you, because it sounds like you have been “donating money to Christian television.”. But those televangelists aren’t asking for money to pay for “satellite transponder bills.” You’re just giving money to hucksters who are buying yachts and houses with it. The only people that don’t know that are the suckers who send them the money. Perhaps you should worry less about American Atheists’ financial solvency and more about your own? It sounds like you might be better off if a court appointed someone to manage your money for you…

Doc Anthony

Sure, sure Pan, I’ve heard all the stereotypes before. You guys are so jealous of the way Christians have made effective use of the Television media (in fact changed the way everybody looked at TV media), you had nothing left but to try to paint all the Christian broadcasters with the Baker-Swaggart brush.

But it doesn’t work, for the most part. The great majority of Christian broadcasters, from Billy Graham on down, are clean and stay clean. Accountability. ECFA, for example. ( http://www.ecfa.org )

I’ll accept your point on the “glorified YouTube”, but that’s hardly a compliment to the American Atheists effort to get into TV. The Christian TV networks are REAL television networks, not YouTube amateur-hour stuff.

WE do not need any whatnot “Roku” boxes at all. We give you 24/7 programming automatically. WE are part of your Cox package, your ATT package.

American Atheists really needs to (publicly) BEG the major Christian networks for help on getting into the big time. (Preferably on their knees. Wouldn’t that be a sight!).

Larry

Most efforts at Christian channels were/are financial failures. CBN got lucky by selling out at the top of their game, not staying around long enough to decline. Selling to a company you would find downright satanic, Disney. Usually to survive they have to sweeten the pot by either having commercials/infomercials or nostalgic reruns of 50’s and 60’s shows whose syndication rights are languishing and cheap.

The other part of it is Christians tend to be amusement-impaired. Thus making the production of entertaining programs nigh impossible. So there is a lack of advertising potential or ability to grab an audience.

dermotontol

It reminds me of that liberal radio network they tried a few years ago, after complaining that all the radio talk shows were conservative. It failed miserably, no one would support it, super low ratings, etc.

Frank

Fran

Yes, Frank, it won’t make any difference whatsoever if this is aired and people listen to it, since God will soon intervene in man’s affairs and make everything right, even if atheists don’t believe in God. I find it very sad that today, the majority of Jews do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah, and they were God’s “chosen people”. Hopefully, as times become more severe in fulfillment of Bible prophecies (2 Timothy 3:1-7; Matthew 24:4-14), they will come around to realize the truth before the end of this era comes.

Jeff Coe

In today’s world with streaming boxes like Roku almost anyone can start up something. And we live in the US where we have rights and privileges that allow us to do things that many others across the globe can not. Why not have an atheist tv station. People just might learn something new and if you so happen to be a person of faith then this might actually make you look at the issues more seriously and know more what and why you think and believe as you do.

dermotontol

Actually, atheists are creating more Christians than they know. They have forced people to go back and examine why they believe what they believe, and become better able to counter the often slipshod arguments against religion. Look at the recennt conversion of Leah libresco.

JT

We are a growing part of the population, and have as much right to have our views aired as anyone else. Only those who secretly yearn for a Christian theocracy where non-worshipers must be silent would think otherwise. We are still a country based on freedom, and not just for religious folk.

Larry

Fran

JT, are we free from corruption of government, hate, prejudice, war, poverty, all sickness and disease, old age death; and do you honestly believe that man can and will get rid of all these detriments on his own?

cj

Fran we will always have to work on the social injustices in our world. Being a society takes work. As far as sickness and disease go, we can work on that, too. Science has taken us a long way and will continue to. Old age is just an emergent property of aging not a detriment. I think only Benjamin Button was able to reverse that process. Death is a natural part of biological life and we won’t ‘get rid of it’ – nor should we. It is part of a process that allows new life to flourish. What is your concern? Do you think/hope there is a magical solution to the problems in the world? If so you will eventually be very disappointed.

Jeffrey

Family Gal

Why do atheists care WHAT anyone believes? I do not understand how to believe in “nothing” as I always have believed in something. So, I’m starting from a different “starting point” and from this point of view I see many inconsistencies (albeit I’m not an intellectual). How can atheists have a “set of principles” (as I understand they do now)? Who determines what’s right and wrong and from what perspective can those be set? What do they have to gain by getting others to believe in nothing; you are “gaining” them to what? Why does it hurt them if I believe in something? If you are standing for something then you cannot be believing in nothing as you can only stand for something. Let’s call it like it is… just another form of brainwashing (and you already have a corner on that in the public education system). I choose to be brainwashed by something that gives me hope and a purpose.

I can see the hate and disdain atheists and humanists have for believers in Jesus Christ (as I am) – so what is your opinions as what should happen to people like me who refuse to shut up and who refuse to not share the Hope and Joy that is within me?

Larry

If not for the obnoxiousness of fundamentalist religious believers, atheists would be a fairly innocuous group. Its because the “believers” are the ones trying to give their religious views color of law. Trying to make their religious views the only ones accepted by government and our culture. Its the believers who constantly look for excuses in their religion to act in an uncivil, hostile and malicious manner. The “hate” you see from atheists is merely a reaction to the badwill generated from so much nonsense done in the name of God.

Your comments about atheists are a combination of ignorance and contempt of them. You make no effort to understand their position and immediately look with hostility because they do not believe as you do.

Rashid.M

People should be able to believe or not believe whatever they want free from ridicule. Atheism is a philosophy or a belief. If you follow it you should be able to state your case independently of ridiculing others. Similarly if you disagree with such a philosophy then you can state your disagreement in a respectful manner. And I don’t understand why news of a channel promoting or explaining atheism should be met with alarm or derision. Look at it as an opportunity to learn more about how other people think and why. If the new channel does not vilify believers in God I think it has every right to broadcast what are clearly widely held beliefs.

Sdg

An athesist tv program would present a great platform to share ones Christian faith. In fact, it would lead to intellectual debate between believers and non believers alike. For instance, in order for science to be true it must have been created by something. Science alone cannot explain our existence. If so, the athesist bible would read sorta like this,”in the beginning there was nothing. Nothing then begat nothing and created something. That something then evolved into the world we now know.” It takes more blind faith to believe this scenero than than the creation according to Genisis! Science cannot explain something from nothing. God can.

Fran

Amen!!! Besides that, atheists put their trust in men (scientists, philosophers, etc.) who are imperfect and make mistakes. All of us are in the same boat. But God is perfect in all respects, with the major attributes of his personality being love, justice, wisdom and power. And because of his major love for mankind (John 3:16), we can look forward to his putting an end to our imperfection and sin, as well as all the terrible conditions on earth we now face (Revelation 21:1-4). 😀 😀

John

Fran

If I saw it once, just to see where they are coming from and why, it would probably only confirm my trust, faith and love for God even more since he will put an end to hate, prejudice, war, all sickness, old age and death on earth (Revelation 21:1-4). Man’s attempts to do this on his own through the centuries have always failed. Take your pick.

cj

Fran I really wish you had more respect for your own religious authority. Please read 1 Timothy 2:12 and 1 Corinthians 14:34 and then don’t tell me what you think about those passages because that would be unchristian.

lulu

Thomas Carson

I was reading some of the comments here…I can not tell if the posters here are serious or joking…However my point is that very little has changed between religion and science, faith and reason, etc…The same arguements I have been hearing for years…I do not even watch television anymore…I had my cable shut off in 2000…So I have no desire to watch the Athiest televison network (good luck making it work) anymore that I have a desire to watch faith based television (with few exceptions, there is nothing original on these networks)…I would like to give some advice to posters on both side of this issue: knock off the mudslinging, stop attacking people you do not even know…Have any of you ever heard the song, “Reach Out of the Darkness” by Friend and Lover…there is a lyric where the narrator says that he there a man that he did not care for so he gives this man a call they both said what was on their minds, and narrator now considers this man a friend…hopefully some of you (or maybe all of you) can put aside your prejudices and reach out to your opposite numbers…who knows? You might find out that you have more in common that you realize.

Verno

The real Golden Rule is not “Do under to others … ” because nobody has the right to do something to someone else. The real Golden Rule was best stated by Voltaire who said, “Think for yourself and allow others to do the same.” Way to many comments posted here that want to tell me what to do.

[…] are more than 100 Christian and four Jewish television stations broadcasting in the United States. Atheist TV: Coming soon to a television near you | Religion News Service Pew: 20% of Americans Are Now Atheist, Agnostic or Unaffiliated With a Religion | TheBlaze.com […]

[…] Christian tv stations in our country, but not one station for atheists? That is about to change. Atheist TV may soon be coming your way. Lest you think this will just be House re-runs, they are planning on […]

[…] The Religious News Service reports: “The channel will air video of previous atheist events, such as footage from past American Atheist conventions and speakers at 2012‘s Reason Rally in Washington, D.C., as well as content provided by atheist video bloggers and other atheist groups. In addition, the channel will air segments of “The Atheist Viewpoint,” a show produced two decades ago by Madalyn Murray O’Hair, American Atheists’ deceased founder and plaintiff in the 1963 landmark Supreme Court case that removed Bible readings from public schools.”” […]